At a recent seminar, we discussed the value of using the
Five Whys to develop awareness. This
technique is grounded in the manufacturing industry to find the root cause of a
problem. For example, a conversation
might go something like this:
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Question
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Answer
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1
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Why did a screw get missed on that tire?
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That was missed by John.
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2
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Why did John miss that?
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The line is moving too fast and he is missing every 15th
tire.
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3
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Why is the line moving too fast?
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We have deadlines that we are not sure we will make.
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4
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Why can’t we meet the deadlines?
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We have three staff off right now.
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5
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Why are they off?
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They are injured and have not been replaced.
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By the fifth why, the relationship between the current
problem and the root problem is determined.
Now, consider the use of that in daily life. Why am I angry? Because the kitchen is a mess. Why is the kitchen a mess? Because the kids ate and didn’t clean up. Why didn’t they clean up? Because they were going to be late for
practice. Why were they going to be late
for practice? Because they forgot about
the practice. Why? Because it was not written on the
calendar. So, we can get angry at our
kids for not cleaning the kitchen, or realize the root cause was our fault when
we failed to use the strategy (the calendar) that helps them to manage their
time.
Try using the Five Whys in practice when trying to solve a
problem. See if that helps you to truly
succeed in understanding situations, getting to the root cause, and being able
to make change to prevent the problem from reoccurring.
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